Scoring C- for child poverty and D for children at risk

20 February 2012: News from
CPAGScoring C- for child poverty and D
for children at risk is NOT good enough

CPAG
endorses the call in the Salvation Army’s State of the
Nation Report, The Growing Divide, to make children a
higher priority.

The report gives New Zealand a C- for its
efforts to deal with child poverty: 1 in 6 Pākehā, 1 in 4
Pacific, and 1 in 3 Māori children are now likely to live
in relative poverty.

It gives a D for children and risk,
and a C+ for children and violence: the report documents a
massive increase in reported violence and neglect of
children in the last year.

The connection between high
rates of abuse and neglect and high rates of material
hardship must be acknowledged.

We are in breach of our
obligations under the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child. For example: the right to the
protection and care necessary for the child’s well-being
(Article 3); the right to benefit from social security,
including social insurance, (Article 26); the right to a
standard of living adequate for the child's physical,
mental, spiritual, moral and social development, and the
duty of the government to assist parents and others
responsible for the child to implement this right (Article
27).

Past policy has concentrated the nation’s wealth
and influence in the hands of a privileged few, reducing the
wealth and well-being of the majority.

Yet poverty
increases the risk of children suffering abuse, neglect,
ill-health, and being unable to access educational
opportunities.

Green and White Papers are an attempt to
raise public awareness. But we already know the problems,
and we know the cure: address child poverty on all fronts:
housing, health, education, and family income.

This Media
Release is issued by Child Poverty Action Group Inc
Aotearoa

ALSO:

WorkSafe NZ has laid one charge against the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) in relation to the shooting at the MSD Ashburton office on 1 September 2014 in which two Work and Income staff were killed and another was injured. More>>

New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters has announced his intention to stand in the Northland by-election, citing his own links to the electorate and ongoing neglect of the region by central government. More>>

The Government has appointed 12 New Zealanders as members of the Flag Consideration Panel which will engage with the public about a possible new New Zealand flag, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English says. More>>

ALSO:

ALSO:

The first I knew of my mother’s charges was when I was called by a reporter yesterday. I spoke to Andrew and we agreed there is a conflict of interest at the present time which means I will temporarily stand aside from the Social Development portfolio. It’s the right thing to do… . More>>